


The usual bet

by Nightsouls



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Editor Akaashi Keiji, Fluff, Happy Ending, Implied Sexual Content, Light Angst, Light sexual scenes, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Miscommunication, No Smut, Post-Canon, Pro Volleyball Player Bokuto Koutarou, i can't write smut, like just a little
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-13 00:01:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29517780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nightsouls/pseuds/Nightsouls
Summary: "Ji! Ji! Ji!" the volleyball player shouted, moving his arms from side to side incessantly.Keiji raised his hand slightly, to let him understand that he had seen him, and Koutarou felt his chest swell."Bokkun! Come here! Meian is going to rip yer balls off if ya' keep yelling at yer boyfriend!" the Atsumu's voice shouted, who was with the rest of the team, around the coach and the captain."I'm coming!" The gray-haired man yelled, smiling before turning his gaze back to his boyfriend. "Hey! Hey! If we win, you will say yes to whatever I say! Deal?"Despite the distance he could see how his boyfriend tensed, making Koutarou smile even more before approaching where the rest of the team was."Will you ask him to have sex in the locker room?" Atsumu asked, putting an arm around his shoulders.
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou, Kuroo Tetsurou/Tsukishima Kei, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 56





	The usual bet

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [La apuesta de siempre](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29502027) by [Nightsouls](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nightsouls/pseuds/Nightsouls). 



> I know I'm late with the Holiday Dates chapters, but I'm almost done with the New Years chapter...
> 
> Anyway, the truth is that I was inspired to do this oneshot while I was writing the chapter of Holiday Dates and I thought, if I didn't write it right at that moment will never write it.
> 
> As a warning: it has somewhat sexual scenes, very light! It's really not a big deal (I'm unable to write smut, I end up blushing and my mind goes blank)... it doesn't go beyond nudity and one or another touch, but I decided that to avoid problems I would leave it as Mature, if you think I'm exaggerating, tell me and I return it to Teen and Up Audiences.
> 
> Well, enjoy!

Koutarou smiled at the audience, looking for a certain boy with sea-colored eyes and glasses in the crowd. Soon he found him in one of the first rows, next to a man with blond hair, who was cleaning his glasses at the time, and another raven, who had already undone his tie.

"Ji! Ji! Ji!" the volleyball player shouted, moving his arms from side to side incessantly.

Keiji raised his hand slightly, to let him understand that he had seen him, and Koutarou felt his chest swell.

"Bokkun! Come here! Meian is going to rip yer balls off if ya' keep yelling at yer boyfriend!" the Atsumu's voice shouted, who was with the rest of the team, around the coach and the captain.

"I'm coming!" The gray-haired man yelled, smiling before turning his gaze back to his boyfriend. "Hey! Ji! If we win, you will say yes to whatever I say! Deal?"

Despite the distance he could see how his boyfriend tensed, making Koutarou smile even more before approaching where the rest of the team was.

"Will you ask him to have sex in the locker room?" Atsumu asked, putting an arm around his shoulders.

Koutarou laughed heartily as Sakusa stiffened beside him.

"Will you make him join us at that club at Shibuya? I haven't seen Akaashi-kun drunk in a long time" Inunaki asked , probably remembering Keiji's adversity to the clubs where the team loved to celebrate after a particularly dubious victory.

Like that day.

"Will you ask Akaashi-san to go to that meat restaurant that we saw the other day?" Hinata suggested smiling.

Koutarou grinned.

"Actually that's a very good idea, Hinata, a very good idea."

"I still don't understand why he accepts that bet with ya, I don't think he's able to say no to anything ya ask" Atsumu said smirking.

"FYI, Ji rejects many of my ideas, like all the time, like when I asked him to continue with volleyball after college, " the gray-haired man replied , remembering that difficult talk two years ago.

"It's a shame" Sakusa murmured, "his sets were consistent and he had a good mind, maybe it would have been difficult, but he probably would have managed to get into a Division 1 team."

Koutarou nodded, in complete agreement with his teammate. He might not have been the regular setter, but he could have been a regular replacement, depending on the team he entered.

"No, his passion is in the books, you should see him get excited when he talks about a book he's reading" Koutarou replied smiling.

"I thought he edited manga?" Inunaki asked.

Koutarou scratched his temple.

"It is a step , its goal is the literature section."

"Did you finish gossiping?" Meian asked, giving them a smile that indicated that he simply hadn't hit them because they were in public, which made the five players stiffen.

Thomas covered his mouth, but his laugh was clearly heard.

Meian just rolled his eyes.

.

"I honestly don't know why you're so tense, Akaashi-san" Tsukishima said smirking. "If they lose, you won't have to accept anything Bokuto-san tells you, and if they win you'll have sex, I don't know what the problem is..."

"We don't know what Bokuto's fantasies are, what if he ends up making him participate in some strange fetish?" Kuroo said smiling sideways before closing his eyes and pressing his index against his lips, as if he was meditating on something. "Like, I don't know... have sex in front of an open window? Or in the bathroom of a friend's apartment in the middle of a party? Or in the car in a public parking lot? Or I don't know... behind a tent at a fair?"

Keiji blushed as he remembered each of those occasions.

They had all been the result of the same bet he had accepted a few minutes ago.

Most of the time the result of accepting Koutarou's bet had been harmless, usually he ended up agreeing to go to eat somewhere, or to see a movie that was at the very bottom of his watchlist.

But there were times when Koutarou decided to use that deal to place Keiji in extremely embarrassing situations in the case that they got caught. As the four encounters Kuroo had just described.

"If Kou loses, I'll probably spend the whole night comforting him, and then I'll end up accepting whatever he asks of me, " Keiji said with a sigh.

"So, whenever there is a match you end up being Bo's sex slave?" Kuroo asked smirking.

Keiji bit his lip before returning his eyes to the game, just in time to see Atsumu score a point with a perfect serve.

"How come you date someone so annoying, Tsukishima-kun?"

The blond shrugged.

"For the same reason that you date Bokuto-san."

"Oh? Are you dating him because he's practically a walking Sun?"

Tsukishima snorted clearly in amusement as Keiji took a bite out of his salmon onigiri.

"Of course not, I go out with him because he's packed."

Keiji choked on his food and coughed a few times, hearing Kuroo's hyena laugh.

"Too much information" Keiji muttered once his breathing returned to normal.

.

When the ball slammed to the ground on their side of the net, Koutarou felt his heart drop at his feet.

Everything had failed.

His plan had completely failed.

He turned to see the scoreboard, maybe he hadn't tracked right the score in his mind, maybe they were not in the fifth set. Maybe they were still in match point.

_21-23_

He felt how his legs were shaking, how his hand burned after hundreds of spikes, how his knees were pulsing, and how his right shoulder ached, probably with the stress of wanting to win he had returned to his habit of turning his shoulder at the middle of the curve , he would probably have to tell the trainer about it, and he would probably have to endure a painful massage session to avoid any contracture. He shook Aran's hand automatically. He thanked the audience automatically, being careful to avoid the gaze the editor sitting a few feet from them. He couldn't understand a word of Foster's feedback. Without realizing it, he had finished his stretches and was in the showers, letting the water, slightly warmer than necessary, run through his body. 

"Bokuto-san, are you okay?" Hinata's voice brought him out of his thoughts.

"Huh? Yes, I'm just letting the water relax my muscles" the gray-haired one muttered, not sure if the water had let his voice be heard.

"We're gonna eat at a place at Shibuya, do you want me to tell Kuroo-san, Tsukishima and Akaashi-san?" his teammate asked.

Koutarou bit his lip before shaking his head, but he didn't say anything and he was sure that Hinata hadn't managed to read his mind.

Every time the dressing room door was opened and closed the place became quieter.

After a few more minutes of wasting unnecessarily hot water, he heard the door open and close again, and noticed that the place was completely silent.

He took his towel and quickly dried his body in the shower, before leaving with the towel covering his head, there was no need to cover himself, after all he was alone.

"Cover yourself, Kou, someone could come in, " a voice he knew very well said.

He pulled the towel off his head and found himself face to face with a raven.

"Hey..."

"Hinata-kun said that they were going to have dinner at a place in Shibuya, and Inunaki-san said that your shower was taking twice the normal amount..." Keiji said before sitting down on one of the benches.

Koutarou felt his heart clench when he saw his boyfriend.

Why on earth his plan had to fail?

.

"I don't think I can go to dinner with the team..." the player muttered before starting to dry his body, which seemed already half dried.

Keiji frowned.

The days of Koutarou becoming totally depressed over defeat were supposed to have ended years ago. For a long time his boyfriend had become that pillar that supported them all when something went wrong. Even when they lost in the match, Koutarou always suggested going to eat somewhere especially good, in order to replenish their energy, he always began to recall especially bright moments of the match aloud and always laughed twice as hard to ease the mood of his teammates.

But the Koutarou infront of him was not the usual ace, he seemed to be a washedout version of himself.

"Is something wrong, Kou? Did you got injured? I noticed you reverted to your habit of turning your a..."

"Relax Kaashi, I'm fine, I'm just tired" the gray-haired boy cut him off before tying the towel on his hips and walking to where his locker was.

Keiji froze for a second.

He hadn't called him Ji, nor Keiji, he had called him Kaashi.

The situation was worse than he had thought.

He removed his glasses and set them on the bench before massaging the bridge of his nose and making his decision.

Maybe it was not the best way to deal with that situation, it would be a temporary solution, but it would help Koutarou for a few moments, so they could go to dinner with the rest of the team and everyone's spirits would rise up because Koutarou would shine again. It was a temporary solution, but at least it would give him a few hours to think about how to deal with the real problem, after dinner they would go to Keiji's apartment and talk for as long as necessary, until they rationalize why the defeat had affected Koutarou so much.

He closed his eyes before getting up.

It was a good plan.

He walked to where Koutarou was, who at that moment was looking for something inside the locker and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend's waist, pressing his chest against the bare back of the gray-haired man and lightly kissing his neck, just where he knew Koutarou loved feel the pressure of his lips.

"Kou... you played so good... let me give you a reward," Keiji whispered as he slid his hand towards the towel that covered his boyfriend, expecting him to groan or moan.

Surprisingly, said sound was never heard and Koutarou's body turned around.

Keiji bit his lip before fixing his gaze on Koutarou's eyes.

They didn't shine like always.

"Kaashi, this is not the place..." Koutarou muttered looking away.

Keiji blinked in surprise.

Koutarou didn't want to have sex? Was he worried about where they were? Was he worried because they were at a locker room? That was the most private place where they could have sex, outside of their respective bedrooms or a hotel room.

Koutarou was more affected than he had originally thought.

Without wasting time he knelt down and brought his hands to the towel that covered Koutarou, undoing the small knot and letting it fall to the ground, he would take care of washing it properly later. He felt a little calmer when he saw that at least the player's cock did appreciate his attention.

When he pressed his lips to Koutarou's thigh, a hand pushed his shoulder away from the gray-haired young man.

"Huh?"

"I said no, Akaashi," the gray-haired one declared before turning around, rummaging through the locker and quickly putting on some boxers.

As he watched his boyfriend get dressed, Keiji wondered how they got to that point, where Koutarou had rejected him.

Whenever Koutarou had found himself defeated, he had at least accepted the comfort that the raven offered him. Even before they were a couple, when they were just a couple of friends playing in high school, Koutarou had always sought him out to help him feel better. Initially with endless hours of practice, with trips to the convenience store where Keiji would treat him a snack, gradually evolving into cuddling and kissing sessions, until finally they became beautiful moments between the sheets.

But it seemed that none of that would help Koutarou's spirits.

He bit his lip trying to think. What made different that defeat from others?

.

Koutarou cursed himself over and over as he dressed.

Keiji never suggested doing something like that in a place other than the privacy of a hotel room or their apartments, he always had to convince him or resort to the bet they made before games.

The bet that they made that day.

He cursed his erection that didn't seem to understand the situation of his heart and brain.

He cursed feeling so defeated that he hadn't been able to lift the spirits of the rest of the team.

He cursed that it was so obvious that Keiji had decided to offer him sex to give him some relief.

"Get up Akaashi, you'll hurt your knees" he managed to say, feeling slightly proud that his voice hadn't cracked.

The rustling behind him assured him that his boyfriend had listened to him and had sat on one of the benches near him.

Once he zipped up his duvet jacket, he turned to see his boyfriend, who at the time was lying on the bench. He was probably trying to improve his back posture, after all Keiji spent hours hunched at the computer or reading manuscripts.

"Ready?" Keiji asked , and Koutarou couldn't help but close his eyes when he heard his stern voice.

To anyone else Keiji would sound like always, but not Koutarou. That wasn't his boyfriend's voice when they were alone, it didn't have that usual warmth, it didn't have that sweet note that Keiji reserved for him.

Why had everything had to fail?

They had not only lost the game.

Now he had managed to lower the spirits of the team and Keiji.

He closed his eyes and groaned before closing the locker.

" Let's go" Koutarou said walking to the door.

"Sure" Keiji answered before catching up with him.

They walked in silence until they left the place, meeting the cold Tokyo night air.

"Do you want to grab something to eat before getting to the apartment? Or do you prefer to order some takeout?

Koutarou much preferred to go to that meat restaurant that Hinata had talked about, but it wasn't a good time.

"Whatever, I'm not hungry," the gray-haired man answered.

"That's new," the raven murmured. "You know that you should eat, you burned too much energy on the court, if you don't want to eat something special, I'll prepare one of the meals from your table, since you did so much exercise I suppose I will have to use an extra prote..."

"It's not neces..."

"I know , but I have everything I need to do it, and it will be much healthier than any takeout."

Koutarou shrugged and listened to Keiji sigh.

They continued walking in silence until they were in front of Keiji's apartment door. Koutarou turned to see the raven, who at that moment was going through the contents of his coat pockets, probably looking for the keys. He wanted to smile at the scene, after all he loved to see how he struggled with small everyday things, like never finding his keys, but the muscles of his face seemed unable to raise the corners of his mouth.

When Keiji finally opened the door, Koutarou went into the apartment, turning on the lights without looking for the switch, after all he knew the place like his own.

"I know that whatever is happening in your mind goes beyond having lost the match" Keiji declared as he opened the refrigerator, "you're too mature to be like this over a lost match."

Koutarou made himself comfortable on the couch so that Keiji could only see his back and waited for Keiji to say something else, when he heard the sound of something being chopped on a wooden board he decided to speak.

"Won't you ask me about it?"

The sound of food being chopped continued.

"I think that you will tell me when you feel ready."

Koutarou rested his cheek against the back of the couch.

"What if I never tell you?"

The sound of food being chopped stopped, being replaced by the sound of rice being washed.

"That would be something new, I think that in all this time we have never hide anything from the other" Keiji replied before the sound of something being thrown to the pan, probably whatever Keiji had chopped.

"I hid from you that I liked you for three years."

"And look at us here, I think you didn't hide it very well."

Koutarou felt how in the peace of that room, with the symphony of familiar and domestic noises coming from the kitchen, the pressure that oppressed his heart decreased a little.

Just a little.

Just enough so that his muscles relaxed a bit, and his lips curved slightly upward.

Keiji had that effect on him.

And still, he couldn't help but curse that they had lost that match. Of all the matches they could have lost, why did they have to lose that one?

.

Keiji served an extra spoonful of rice and curry on the plate that he would give to Koutarou, after all despite eating a lot, he was aware that he did not require all the carbohydrates and protein that his boyfriend needed to replenish after a match.

Koutarou thanked the food with a nod before saying a little prayer and starting to eat.

"It's good to see that your appetite has returned," the raven said before taking a bite.

"I'm not really hungry, but it would be rude of me not to eat what you made when it's fresh" Koutarou replied , making Keiji roll his eyes.

Just at that moment Koutarou had decided to copy his replies.

"You are free not to eat, I can perfectly store the food in the fridge, and I think at this point you know that eating alone doesn't bother me" Keiji lied.

Because he actually hated eating alone, and it would hurt him a lot to do so with Koutarou in the same room as him.

Perhaps his face gave him away, since Koutarou shook his head.

"You are terrible liar, Kaashi."

He called him Kaashi, it was an improvement, at least he wasn't calling him by his full last name now.

He decided to take advantage of the fact that Koutarou was absorbed in his food in order to appreciate him. His shoulders and arms were big, he could see that even under his team's sweatshirt. His neck was tense, with some slight marks that he himself had left days ago and for which he had apologized for hours, but that Koutarou had insisted he loved, even asking him to renew them before he returned to Osaka. His hair was down, so it fell across his forehead, just like Keiji loved. His face was somewhat round, his cheekbones were not very marked, but still, his jaw was strong and square. And his eyes, his eyes were like two suns, golden and full of life.

Although at that time they did not look as lively as usual. At least they weren't as opaque as they were in the locker room.

He smiled slightly.

That was a good sign.

Soon Koutarou would talk to him and Keiji could understand what the hell had affected him so much.

They continued eating in silence, Koutarou eating much slower than usual, so Keiji mimicked him, so something that they used to do in fifteen minutes was lengthened to half an hour, eating the last bites a little cold for his taste.

"Choose something to watch, I'll wash the dishes" the raven said as he got up and took the dishes.

"I don't want to watch anything..." Koutarou muttered.

Keiji felt his patience slipping away, but decided that it wasn't the time to start pushing, not when it seemed that Koutarou would speak with a little more time.

"I'd rather not have the place this quiet" a _no when you're here_ didn't came out from Keiji's lips "just pick something that doesn't bother you to hear."

Soon he heard voices that he vaguely recognized, and then he heard the intro song of The Rain, the series that they had agreed to start watching together, but due to Koutarou's schedule they had decided to see each on their own. Since he vaguely recognized what they said in the chapter, Keiji assumed that he was a couple chapters ahead of the athlete.

"I had something planned for when we won, " Koutarou said suddenly, making Keiji turn off the faucet to the sink, leave the sponge with which he was washing the pot, and turn to see him.

"Finally," Keiji whispered, something that luckily his boyfriend didn't hear.

"And it was completely ruined when we lost."

Keiji rolled his eyes before walking to the couch and sitting on it next to his boyfriend, who didn't take his eyes off the TV.

"This match was not qualifying one Kou, the league has just started and there is no way that for a lost match you will be left out of..."

"I know that Kaashi, I wan't talking about that" Koutarou cut him off.

The raven frowned.

He couldn't understand what was going through the mind of the young man in front of him.

"What was your plan?"

"And if we won, you would have to say yes and everything would be perfect."

Keiji waited for his boyfriend to elaborate, but it seemed that for the moment that was all Koutarou was willing to share. Leaving Keiji the task of filling in the gaps.

So it was something Keiji would normally refuse if it weren't for the bet they always made before matches.

It was probably having sex in a public place.

Or a new position or game that Keiji would oppose.

Regarding the first option Keiji was not willing to do anything, and if he was sincere, if not for Koutarou's state of mind, maybe a part of him would have been happy about the defeat. Even though the adrenaline rush made it ten times more enjoyable, it was completely humiliating to see the faces of their friends telling them that they had seen or heard them. He still wasn't over the time that Komi had told him that he never thought he was that loud.

Keiji bit his lip remembering that Koutarou had rejected him in the locker room.

It would probably be the second option then.

He closed his eyes wondering what his boyfriend would want. Was it something Keiji had opposed before? He searched his memory for some of the few occasions when it had been very clear to Koutarou that he wasn't up to something in bed.

Suddenly a memory from a few years ago came back.

A nineteen-year-old Bokuto Koutarou taking the tie from the uniform of a third-year Akaashi Keiji, trying to tie the raven's hands.

On that occasion Keiji had told him that being tied up was not within the area in which he felt comfortable. Not when Koutarou got so excited that he ended up leaving marks that were impossible to cover on Keiji's neck, marks that he had tried to hide from his teammates and classmates without any success and that had led to the rumor that Keiji had a girlfriend.

But the years had passed and Koutarou had matured.

Koutarou no longer left marks that were impossible to cover by accident.

Koutarou left them so that everyone around him would know that he had someone to spend his nights with.

And his life.

He closed his eyes thinking he had a couple of ties that he didn't use in his closet.

But to get to his closet, first they had to get to his room.

.

He watched out of the corner of his eye as Keiji got up from the couch.

Perfect now had ruined everything even more and Keiji had gotten tired of trying to deal with him.

Why should his plan have failed?

Suddenly Keiji was stradling his lap, his arms around Koutarou's shoulders, and his lips were on his neck.

Koutarou groaned in frustration as he felt himself starting to get an boner.

Which caused the raven, who had clearly misinterpreted Koutarou's groan, to drop his weight a bit more, pressing his own half boner against the athelet's. He placed his hands on Keiji's waist with the intention of pulling him away a bit, but Keiji began to suck right where his pulse was visible.

Right where Koutarou loved to feel the pressure of his skin being sucked.

Another groan escaped his chest, but that wasn't one of frustration.

Maybe it wasn't a bad idea to let Keiji help him clear his mind of his failed plan with a very nice and pleasant consolation sex.

He let his hands go down from Keiji's waist to his ass and then squeezed it tightly, just like he knew Keiji hated and loved at the same time. Perhaps because the black-haired man was so focused on cheering him up, he would allow him to try something that he would refuse at another time. He buried his fingers in Keiji's soft hair before pulling him hard, peeling the raven's lips from his neck, intending to tell him that he wanted to tie him up.

But the idea disappeared as soon as he saw Keiji's eyes.

Those sea-colored eyes full of love and adoration.

He threw his head back in frustration.

If they had won the match...

Why his plan had to fail like that?

He felt Keiji's weight disappear from his lap, obviously what he had just done wasn't helping at all.

"Koutarou, I'm tired of waiting for you to tell me what's bothering you on your own, so now I'll have to ask directly" the raven said, his voice was a bit louder than normal, but Koutarou knew that for Keiji it was like screaming. He looked for Keiji's eyes and felt a chill run through him, his eyes were the color of a storm, Keiji was upset. "What the fuck is wrong with you? You have lost more important matches, and we both know that even if you lose I will always do everything in my power to make you feel good, so... what the fuck is happening to you?"

Koutarou closed his eyes.

Why couldn't Keiji just get upset with him, be outraged at being rejected twice, and go to sleep upset like anyone else? Why was Keiji trying to understand what was happening? Why was Keiji trying to understand him to help him despite being upset?

Oh right, because Keiji loved him.

And he loved Keiji for exactly those little traits.

But at that moment, he couldn't face Keiji, he couldn't. Not when his plan had failed from the very start. He needed a little more time, enough to come up with a good plan B, one that wasn't going to fail like the one before.

"Keiji please..."

"No Koutarou, you are better than that, you are no longer that teenager who sat until someone came with a solution to your problems."

"I can't!" Koutarou exclaimed, frustrated with himself at having raised his voice. "Just... leave me alone!"

Keiji's eyes widened and the gray haired one understood why his boyfriend was surprised, after all Koutarou hated being alone, especially when he was like this. But he really needed it, needed to be able to rethink his ideas and plan his next step.

Everything was failing.

"No, you are going to tell me whatever is happening here" a finger pressed hard against his forehead, "right now."

Keiji was pressing him too much.

"Keiji, I'm asking you to give me a moment, just leave me alone for a moment!" Koutarou yelled, cursing himself for having lost his cool.

He just needed a moment.

Everything was silent, except for the program he had put on television after that yell.

Then he felt Keiji move next to him and he heard how the sofa creaked due to the loss of the raven's weight.

Koutarou didn't know whether to sigh in relief that Keiji had finally stopped pressing him or whether to cry because Keiji was finally tired of his attitude.

Suddenly he stopped hearing the sound of the television.

"No."

Keiji's voice sounded annoyed.

Koutarou groaned annoyed.

"Do you want me to tell you? Do you want me to tell you what affected me like this? Do you really wanna know?"

"Yes!" Keiji shouted. "That's what I've been asking of you all this time!"

Koutarou took a deep breath before going to the entrance of the apartment.

He couldn't take that situation anymore.

.

Keiji watched stunned as his boyfriend headed for the door.

Wasn't he going to tell him what had happened?

When he saw the gray-haired man take his team jacket, he walked back to the couch and closed his eyes, leaning his head on the back.

Nothing made sense.

"Hey" Koutarou's voice said suddenly, much closer than expected.

The gray haired man sounded a bit less annoyed, but still annoyed, and Keiji didn't have the energy to face him again. He wasn't used to arguing with him, therefore it drained him mentally. So all he did was keep his eyes closed and groan in response.

"Hey, didn't you want me to tell you what was affecting me so much?"

"Yes."

"Well open your eyes so I can tell you," asked the one with gray hair. Her voice continued to sound altered, but hhe no longer had that anger that had tinged him a few moments before, but still, Keiji didn't want to see his boyfriend at that moment.

"I don't need to open my eyes to hear you, speak up" Keiji said.

"It isn't easy for me to do this, could you help me out and look at me?" Keiji felt how Koutarou was placed in front of him. Even with his eyes closed he could perfectly imagine what the boyfriend looked like, standing in front of him, probably with his arms crossed and a scowl.

He opened his eyes without bothering to lift his head from the backrest, because he knew that this way he could see Koutarou in the eye.

The problem was that what he saw was the ceiling.

" Down here, Ji, " said Koutarou's voice, which now sounded a bit amused.

When he raised his head and directed his gaze straight ahead, he met Koutarou's face.

Koutarou's two knees were on the ground.

Koutarou's eyes looked as alive as usual.

And in his hands was a ring.

A beautiful silver colored band.

Keiji blinked a few times, trying to understand the scene in front of him.

"Yes," he answered .

It was then Koutarou's turn to blink in surprise.

"I haven't even asked you anything..."

"I don't think there are many things you can ask while you're, kneeling, showing me a ring" Keiji said as he stood up. "By the way that's not how you kneel, it is with one knee on the ground, not both."

Koutarou snorted before taking the black-haired's left hand and placing the ring on it.

"Really? Do you really want to do it? Even after how I've been behaving the last few hours?"

Keiji grabbed the forearms of his now fiancée before pulling them up and making the gray haired boy lean towards him. The player wasted no time and wrapped his arms behind Keiji, who felt like his smile growed every second. He raised his left hand for a moment, appreciating the band, it was simple, but when he observed it carefully he could see how it had a small diamond embedded without poking out of the band. It was perfect, he would never be ashamed of being engaged, but he couldn't help but think that he would feel a little exposed by carrying something so visible in his hand.

He felt Koutarou's face against his chest, which brought him out of his little moment of appreciation for the jewel.

"Yes, Koutarou, of course I want to marry you," Keiji answered finally . "Also, we never fight, I guess that the fact that you proposed me when we were upset makes it more special, right?"

Koutarou's laugh appeared inmediatly.

Before being replaced by sobs, as Keiji felt his sweater get wet.

.

"I-I had e-everything planned. " Koutarou knew that his voice sounded muffled because he was pressing his face against Keiji, but he was sure that the raven would be able to hear him. "I-I made you the u-usual b-bet a-and if w-we w-won ... I-I would h-have run to the b-bleachers and ask T-Thomas and Meían to h-help me g-go up and and I-I would ask you to m-marry me and... and b-because we would have w-won y-you would have to s-say y-yes ... And then w-we would go to d-dinner to celebrate, m-maybe K -Kuroo and T-Tsukki would j-join us, a-along with the rest of the team, and we would t-tell the g-guys from F-Fukurodani and w-we would go c-clubing..."

It had been a perfect plan, but it had failed in the second step.

He felt Keiji's arms embrace him as his lips on top of his head.

"I don't like clubing, Kou," the raven whispered.

"But a-all of us would be a-able to c-convince you, Yukippe, s-she's very good at convincing you, do you remember the k-karaoke time?" the athlete aske remembering that the only time his boyfriend had sang in front of the others, all thanks to the redhead.

"I think this plan B was better," Keiji murmured against his hair, pulling him out of his thoughts.

"Huh?" Koutarou separated a little from his fiancé and searched his face.

"If your first plan had worked, probably later you would have doubts about whether I accepted your proposal because I wanted to or because of the bet: the raven reasoned.

Koutarou smirked.

"Would you accept to marry me just for a bet, Ji?"

"Of course not!" Keiji exclaimed clearly amused.

"That's what I thought , that's why I planned to do it like that, " Koutarou muttered before putting his face back into his boyfriend's sweater.

"I still prefer it this way, I wouldn't have wanted so many people to see us argue."

The volleyball player smiled, lifting his head slightly, so that his chin was nestled on his boyfriend's chest and he could see one of the less flattering angles of Keiji's face.

"Would you have argued with me for asking you to marry me? Why?"

Keiji blinked a few times before smiling and putting his head back against the backrest and laughing slightly.

"I guess not, after all the discussion was because you were upset that you couldn't ask me to marry you as you had planned..." Keiji murmured before raising his left hand towards the ceiling. "Still... in front of many people... I rather have this."

Koutarou got up, feeling his knees slightly numb, to sit next to his boyfriend, intertwining the hand that was next to him.

"It would have been a good way to announce to the world that you are out of the game" the gray-haired man said smiling.

The Keiji snorted clearly amused.

"More like the world would know that you are out of the market, I doubt that others find interesting that a manga editor is engaged..."

"Hey, I know at least one guy that this news will ruin his hopes" Koutarou replied.

"Please don't bring Myaa-sam into this" the raven said. "I told you that we're only friends..."

Koutarou decided not to pursue the subject, after all he did not want his first few minutes of their engagement to be overshadowed by an argument about Atsumu's brother.

"So... this is really happening... You're going to marry me" Koutarou whispered closing his eyes and leaning his head on the back of the sofa, mimicking his boyfriend.

"And you didn't even have to ask me."

"I think kneeling in front of you and offering you a ring is the question itself, Ji."

"I don't know, what if what I accepted was to be your best friend forever? Keiji joked.

Koutarou put his arm over the backrest and placed around his boyfriend's shoulders, to then pull him up and make Keiji's head settle on Koutarou's shoulder.

"Keiji, you accepted that when I gave you the keychain in high school" he declared before ruffling his boyfriend's curls, making the editor laugh heartily.

"You're right."

"I plan to talk to Washio to help me promote a team change to the Raijin," declared the athlete.

Keiji turned to see him clearly surprised.

"But you love playing with the Black Jackals."

Koutarou smiled.

"First, I love you like so much more than playing with them..." he declared or taking his fiancé's face in his hands before pressing his lips against Keiji's.

It was slow at first, just a brush between the two, until Keiji lightly sucked on Koutarou's lower lip, pulling a groan from Koutarou's throat at the same time as Koutarou's hands began to run over the editor's body, dedicating much of his attention to his growing erection, which was evident under his pants, being a reflection of his. The raven brought his hands to Koutarou's legs, lightly brushing the bulge of his pants, earning another groan from the volleyball player. Koutarou returned the favor by lightly biting the boy's bottom lip and slightly tightening his grip on his erection, obtaining as a reward a groan from Keiji, who parted his lips, letting Koutarou's tongue enter. When Koutarou slipped his hands under Keiji's sweater and shirt, Keiji did the same, and Koutarou couldn't help interrupting the kiss as he felt the metal of Keiji's ring against his skin.

"I love how it feels" Koutarou panted against Keiji's lips, who was breathing hard and had a blush on his face.

"Huh?"

"Your ring, against my skin, I love how it feels."

Keiji laughed heartily before leaning his forehead against the volleyball player's shoulder.

The moment was lost, but it didn't matter, he loved being with Keiji, no matter what they were doing.

"And the second?" Keiji said against his shoulder.

"Huh?"

"You said that first you love me, which makes me think that at least there is another reason why you are considering leaving the Black Jackals" the raven said before leaning back against Koutarou's side, as he had been before they started kissing.

"Oh secondly... I love playing volleyball, of course I love playing with Tsum-Tsum and Omi and Hinata, but I would also love to play against them... Also... I miss playing with Washio! And the Raijins are the only team that is based in Tokyo."

"I could look for work in Osaka" the Keiji declared.

"Huh?"

"I could look for an editor job in Osaka, it's not like this is my dream job Kou, maybe it's time I looked for my dream job there."

"Are you really willing to leave Tokyo for me?"

Keiji nodded.

"Of course, I would follow you to the end of the world, Kou."

"Would you go to Spain with me?"

"Yes."

"What about Australia?"

"Sure."

"To Poland?"

"Of course."

"And to the United States?"

"I already told you Kou, I would follow you to the end of the world" Keiji declared, "which by the way is in Argentina."

Koutarou felt his chest swell.

"I love you, Ji."

"I love you, Kou."

They stayed that way for a few minutes, during which time Koutarou enjoyed ruffling Keijis locks.

"Did you like the ring?"

Keiji turned his body a little, leaning more on Koutarou instead of the couch and extended his left arm, showing the ring to Koutarou.

"It's beautiful."

The gray-haired man nodded, he was really proud to have chosen that ring.

"I wanted it to have a big diamond, but I figured you would like more something not so flashy, so this seemed like a good compromise" he explained, smiling as he saw how the light in the room made the diamond glow. "It's engraved... inside."

The raven immediately took off the ring and checked it's inside.

"Kou..." Keiji whispered, making him smile.

" _We are the protagonists of the world_ " Koutarou recited before taking the ring and placing it back on his fiancé's hand. "No matter what others say, to me, at this moment, every moment... we are the protagonists of the world, Ji."

He decided not to say anything about it to the sudden wetness he felt on his shoulder where Keiji's head was now resting.

"It was good thing that your plan failed," Keiji declared. "If you had done it in public everyone would have seen us cry, and we both look horrible crying."

Koutarou sighed shaking his head.

"Thank you for seeing the good side to this horrible proposal."

"Shut up, it's my horrible proposal."

**Author's Note:**

> I'll confess something, I had planned this as the last chapter of my Holiday Dates story, but for some reason I didn't felt it like the right one for that story, but I had liked it so much that I decided to make it a story on its own. Just changed a few details.
> 
> Also, I would like to say that I wanted to write Bokuto as someone who has matured (and Keiji knows he has matured) but as we all do on some occasions, he let a relatively small inconvenience grow and create a 'big problem'. Remember, don't let one incident spoil everything.  
> And well Akaashi is not perfect either, sometimes people really need space, sometimes pushing (even with good intentions) is not the solution, and sometimes it works, but everything is much more problematic than if you let people calm down at their own pace.
> 
> Finally, I will admit that the idea for the proposal came to me from a friend of a friend. A friend of a friend from college got engaged and told her story to my friend, who told it to me. It turns out that the girl had time noticing her boyfriend acting strange and hiding things from her, she says that she did not think the worst, but did faced him, her boyfriend got upset and asked if he really wanted to know what was happening and he proposed to her... in a parking lot.
> 
> As always, feel free to leave kudos and comments, they really make my day. Below is the kudos button and below the comment box.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed the story as much as I enjoyed writing it.
> 
> Take care of yourselves, and do not forget that I love you ♥


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